Upon Graduating
by Chocolatey Sheep
Summary: "The emotions sweeping through the hall were so contagious most of the orchestra members were already out of their seats, eager to join the crowd. 'Okay, this is probably the last chance you will ever have to say it properly. You don't want to suddenly blurt it out at the last moment, do you'" MiKaito, oneshot, mild fluff(I think). Not sure for rating. Title sucks I'm trash bye.


**A/N: Hi! It's me again. I know I've been very inactive for months, but I dunno, I've never been fiercely motivated about anything, so I remain (as always) trash.**

 **The idea for this fic is actually only a month or so older than Migikata no Chou's, which just goes to show how much I procrastinate, doesn't it? Hopefully that means I'll also get around to typing the stories from my other crappy ideas and/or (most importantly) FINALLY update Migikata no Chou. Also, this was typed in parts within a few hours, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't flow smoothly/might be kind of rushed in some parts, if not its entirety, especially since I'm too lazy to proofread it right now. Maybe later.**

 **A few other odd things:**

 **Something I notice a lot about other fanfics is that they mention colour a lot in description (like referring to Miku's "cyan eyes" every time they talk about her eyes in general, or Luka as a "pinkette", and so on), which is strange because within the canon colours as such are mostly depicted as common, or at least not super super rare. In real life, it's unlikely that one would refer so much to characters like this because terms like "the brunet[te]" or "the blond[e]" could apply to half of the characters. While it's fine because these colours really are** **unrealistic to us, it doesn't really make sense if you think about it in terms of in-universe...**

 **... which is why in this fic, none of any of that is mentioned, except for natural hair colours, whether explicit or implicit. As for the rest... use your imagination. You could imagine Miku with emo dark violet chin-length hair if you wanted to. No one here's gonna stop you.**

 **Oh, and other than that, yes, that is indeed a (minor) reference to Last Night, Good Night. Doesn't matter if you've never heard it though.**

 **The total word count for this fanfic, A/N excluded, is 1,666 words exactly.** **On the other hand, the A/N is exactly 385 (and yes, I do literally mean all of the bolded words, even these bracketed ones).** **Isn't that ... _interesting_?**

* * *

"Three, two, _one_!"

The shout echoed through the hall as hats were tossed into the air. There was a brief silence as they fell and everyone picked them up again, then someone laughed. Suddenly, the entire area was filled with hoots, whistling, cheers and even some crying as everyone tried to talk to everyone else at the same time. The emotions sweeping through the hall were so contagious that most of the orchestra members were already out of their seats, eager to join the crowd and find their favourite no-longer-seniors; some of the more well-off ones had even brought gifts, ranging from the typical stuffed animal to elaborate bouquets. One hesitated, however. Looking at her face, it was obvious from her expression she wasn't sure whether to follow the others.

The girl took a deep breath and swung her legs before she got up deliberately. She rubbed her arms briefly as she walked forward, trying to soothe herself. _Okay, Miku, you are going to do it. This is quite possibly the last chance you will ever have to say it properly. You don't want to suddenly blurt it out quite literally only at the very last moment when he's leaving, do you? Not only will his last memory of you be that of a wacko, you won't have any time left to be with him anyway, if it turns out he really does feel the same way._ The violist tried to encourage herself halfheartedly, though she still wasn't sure she believed her own words. She shook her head. What was she thinking? It didn't matter if he rejected her. She had to go through with it anyway. She didn't want to regret not letting the people she loved the most know she cared about them, not the least _him_.

She raised her head now, searching for that person. Unfortunately, the crowds were too thick and she couldn't see through them; she would have to look for him manually. She released another breath in a sigh heavier than expected, feet nearly dragging behind her. Silently she passed Rin and Len, who were wailing over Meiko; the tough brunette rolled her eyes, but they looked suspiciously bright and were softened with affection for the twins. She vaguely registered Gumi, too, had wrapped her arms tightly around Luka and was openly crying, while she patted her awkwardly; in utter contrast to how fond the clarinetist could be at times, the other, more stoic double bassist never was very good at emotional things, Miku remembered. Her mouth curved into a tiny, fleeting smile as she allowed herself to reminisce for a while. It was hard to believe that so many good times were ending.

She suddenly noticed that she was dangerously close to crying; her smile fell off her face again, and she refocused on her mission.

Miku forced herself to continue forward and ignored everyone around her; sooner than she expected, his figure was abruptly in front of her. Just by seeing him, Miku froze; all of the whirling thoughts suddenly disappeared, her mind was pure white. How could she be so stupid? She couldn't go through with this. She _couldn't_. She turned away, conflicted between seeing it through and giving up. She should just get out of sight, she decided.

"Ah, Miku!" Crap... _crap_. She stiffened, not at the sound of her name, but at the voice that called it. Just her luck, wasn't it? Awkwardly, reluctantly, she pivoted back to face him, though she didn't really dare face him. She silently stared at the tiles under her feet. Stupid ground. Why couldn't it open up for her to fall in right now?

"I've been looking for you!" The baritone continued, the black shoes opposite hers shuffling closer. She gave in and looked up, then let her line of sight wander even further skyward, until she was barely looking at him. After all, his hair was still kind of him. She felt herself smile by default; it was hard not to smile around him. The smile felt funny on her face this time, however. "Hi, Kaito," she greeted him as usual.

"Isn't it strange? A year's gone by so fast! I can't believe I've only known you for these past few months," he mused out loud. "First Gakupo and Lily, and then now Meiko and Luka and all of us graduates... it seems like the first time we went to the ice-cream parlour together was only yesterday, doesn't it? I remember I ordered vanilla like always, and you wanted to try some. I couldn't believe that you'd never tried something as simple as _vanilla_." She could hear the amusement enter his voice and imagined him smiling and shaking his head. "I still can't understand. Really, Miku. _Vanilla_."

Miku attempted a smile, but still couldn't bring herself to look directly at him. She tried again, but the words refused to come out of her mouth; a slight "sorry" was the most she could manage. She continued to stare at his hair. She remembered the first time they'd met and she noticed right away how his hair shone blue-black in the light. When she pointed it out, he joked that he'd always wanted to dye it navy. Miku also liked blue hair, but he said he thought something more like a light greenish-blue would suit her best. She still had no idea whether he really thought so, but she'd been planning to dye her hair for a while now.

Her reverie was interrupted when she realized Kaito had stopped chuckling and was openly staring at her now; startled, she accidentally met his glance for a few seconds before she looked away, embarrassed and ashamed and some other strange emotion she didn't bother searching the name for. She resumed her study of the floor, unsure whether she was glad or uncomfortable to be there.

"In the end, after trying nearly every single flavour in the store, you finally choose peppermint as the one you liked the most, though cookies and cream nearly won out," she heard Kaito continue slowly, obviously trying to cheer her up. "I think you liked green tea, too, though you hated mango... " Honestly, she was surprised he even remembered at all. "... you said that it was too tangy for ice cream, and that frozen yogurt would've been better." He broke off unexpectedly, his tone becoming much more gentle. "Wait, are you okay?"

She kept her gaze on the floor, not daring to look at him as tears blurred her vision. Why- _why-_ couldn't she ever say anything, even now, when she knew she might never have another chance? She felt his hand on her head, silently comforting her like he'd always had. She wished she could just be honest and admit what she'd always wanted to. She suddenly remembered a line from a song she'd once sung. _When I can't confess anything, I can't say goodbye either._ But she still hadn't. And he was already leaving. She opened her mouth to apologize again.

"I love you."

 _What?_

Miku's eyes widened. She felt like something inside her had just burst open, or like she herself had exploded, and she couldn't breathe. She wasn't sure which shocked her more: her kind-of-accidental, spontaneous words, which she wanted to stuff back into her mouth immediately, or the fact that she and Kaito had just basically _confessed to each other at the same time_.

Before she knew it, her knees jellified and her legs gave out beneath her; she slumped to the floor, looking at Kaito mutely in a state of what could only be described as retardation.

"I've always loved you, Miku," he repeated, so softly she almost couldn't hear him over the rest of the pandemonium in the hall.

The thought processes in Miku's brain finally kickstarted after a few more seconds, a time gap that felt torturously long. "But. But. No. Wait. Did... didn't you say that I was-" she swallowed and focused on a spot somewhere over his shoulder. "-that I was like a little sister...?"

He knelt so that their faces were level and took both of her hands. "Miku... I never said that you were like a little sister _to me_. So don't cry anymore."

She nervously looked back at him and was immensely relieved to find that he wasn't laughing at her, but smiling that kind smile like always. As he cautiously touched the wet streaks on her cheeks, she smiled hesitantly, and giggled. She found that she couldn't stop laughing.

"What're you laughing about?" Kaito asked curiously as Miku was slowly reduced into a puddle. She smacked him in the arm, but weakly from her laughter. "You _idiot_!" She howled. "You have no idea how panicked you made me!"

"Oh, so _that_ 's it?" She could practically hear him smirk. A hand gripped her arm and jerked her forward, pulling her tightly into a hug. She tucked her chin over his shoulder, the last of her hysterics gradually bubbling away; joyfully, she snuggled closer, a sense of content enveloping her entire body and settling down deep inside her, until she thought she might drown out of how damn happy she was. They remained like that for a while, too little for Miku. She wished they could stay like that forever.

The two now-lovers finally separated reluctantly, hands still twined; Kaito brushed the loose bangs out of Miku's face, and their eyes met once more. The noise level in the hall had risen too loud for speech, but it didn't matter to either of them. Right then, no words were needed.

It was more than enough, for now.


End file.
